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Leonard Cohen Tropes
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934 – November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality and personal relationships. He was known for his wry, melancholic and frequently beautiful lyrics, his ever-present cluster of angelic back-up singers, his fascination with religion and spirituality, and that voice, good lord. Cohen began his career as a writer, with two collections of poetry that received good reviews, but his later material didn't do as well, so he became a singer-songwriter due to his lack of financial success. His first album, the snappily titled Songs of Leonard Cohen, was released in 1967; it met with critical acclaim, mediocre sales and a lasting cult status, something that could be said for his entire career. After a decline in popularity from the mid-1970s onward, he released the incisive, satirical I'm Your Man in 1988. Widely considered one of his best albums, it effectively rebooted his career and cemented his status as a cult figure. Something of an acquired taste due to his minimalistic approach to music, often dark tone and average-to-middling ability to actually sing in tune, Cohen is nevertheless regarded as one of the finest and most influential songwriters. His songs have been frequently covered by other artists, with Hallelujah - most famously covered by Jeff Buckley - being the most prominent example, and he was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. Cohen was private and something of a hermit (he spent many years living in a Zen commune atop Mount Baldy, where he was known as Jikan, "The Silent One"), but after 2005, where his manager, Kelley Lynch, almost completely emptied his pension account and ran away with the money, Cohen started touring again in 2008 at age 73. Following a successful string of tours between 2008 and 2013, Cohen released three albums in the final four years of his life: Old Ideas (2012), Popular Problems (2014) and You Want It Darker (2016), the last of which was released three weeks before his death. Also, Phil Spector once threatened him with a loaded gun. But that's not important. ---- Studio albums All albums released on Columbia Records # Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967) # Songs from a Room (1969) # Songs of Love and Hate (1971) # New Skin for the Old Ceremony (1974) # Death of a Ladies' Man (1977) # Recent Songs (1979) # Various Positions (1984) # I'm Your Man (1988) # The Future (1992) # Ten New Songs (2001) # Dear Heather (2004) # Old Ideas (2012) # Popular Problems (2014) # You Want It Darker (2016) ---- Bibliography Poetry Collections * * The Spice-Box of Earth. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1961. * Flowers for Hitler. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1964. * * Parasites of Heaven. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1966. * Selected Poems 1956–1968. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1968. * The Energy of Slaves. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1972. New York: Viking, 1973. * Death of a Lady's Man. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1978. London, New York: Viking, Penguin, 1979. – reissued 2010 * Book of Mercy. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1984. – reissued 2010 * Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs. London, New York, Toronto: Cape, Pantheon, McClelland & Stewart, 1993. * Book of Longing. London, New York, Toronto: Penguin, Ecco, McClelland & Stewart, 2006. (poetry, prose, drawings) * * * The Lyrics of Leonard Cohen. London: Omnibus Press, 2009. * Poems and Songs. New York: Random House (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets), 2011. * Fifteen Poems. New York: Everyman's Library/Random House, 2012. (eBook) * The Flame. London, New York, Toronto: Penguin, McClelland & Stewart, 2018. (poetry, prose, drawings, journal entries) Tropes: * A World Half Full: Anthem, definitely. He had some similar songs that veer more into Crapsack World, but might still have the requisite sense of beauty and empowerment simply by virtue of being stirring music. ** From The Old Revolution: * Card-Carrying Villain: the narrator of Future. * Cool Old Guy: Among other things, he skipped on and off-stage at concerts and donated $200,000 to the Australian bushfire appeal. * Crapsack World: "I've seen the future, baby/And it is murder" * Creator Breakdown: Cohen spent his entire career struggling with clinical depression. His darkest album, Songs of Love and Hate, came out of an especially troubled time; it is considered one of his best offerings by critics, but is not popular with the general public because it's just so dark. (Cohen himself stated that he has trouble listening to it, and it is under-represented on his Best Of album, which he chose the songs for himself.) ** Songs of Love and Hate includes the song Dress Rehearsal Rag, which is notable for - despite Cohen frequently being derided for writing "wrist-slitting songs" - being the only song that actually mentions wrist-slitting. *** Finally, and ironically, despite this being easily his bleakest album, it's the only album cover where he's smiling. * Deadpan Snarker: His interviews were frequently hilarious. ** When The Future (his most successful album in Canada) gained him a Juno Award for Best Male Vocalist, he mentioned in his acceptance speech that "Only in Canada could somebody with a voice like mine win Vocalist of the Year." * "God Is Love" Songs: Numerous songs, but the best example is possibly Coming Back To You; it starts "Baby, I'm still hurting, and I can't turn the other cheek; you know that I still love you, it's just that I can't speak" - and it soon becomes clear that the "Baby" in question is, er, God (or possibly Judaism in general). * Gray Rain of Depression: Last Year's Man * Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: Many, but specifically "The Sisters of Mercy;" "If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn/They will bind you with love that is grace, full and green as a stem." ** And the night comes on, it's very calm; I want to cross over, I want to go home - but she says, "Go back - go back to the world." * Intercourse with You: He has a reputation. ** Not the straightest use of this trope as it's Cohen's translation of a Garcia Lorca poem, a better example may be Light as the Breeze a lovely little song about the technique one should employ when performing oral sex. ** Another example, but much less subtle than the above: in Chelsea Hotel #2, a lovely song written for Janis Joplin, he so lovingly sings * Isn't It Ironic?: Hallelujah is probably the worst offender. It's not supposed to be a happy song! ** Cohen was also reportedly greatly amused by the non-ironic use of Democracy (a scathing, wry little statement about American society) as a patriotic ballad. I mean, for heaven's sake: * Lyrical Dissonance: Heart With No Companion has a bouncy, jaunty melody and introduction. And then the first line... ** The Captain also has a rather upbeat, bouncy tune and a rather dark subject matter. * Nice Hat: He can rock a charcoal fedora. * Offing the Offspring: The Story of Isaac, which retells... well, the story of Isaac. * Old Shame: ** His stated opinions of Death of a Ladies Man were, in later years, more positive now than they used to be, but he still refered to it as a "noble travesty" (direct quote). His fans are inclined to agree. It wasn't his fault entirely, though. Phil Spector apparently abducted the tapes at gunpoint and did his own thing with them; reports vary as to what actually happened, but there was definitely a gun involved, as well as a declaration of love. *** His daughter, on the other hand, apparently loves it. ** Another example is the above quoted song "Chelsea Hotel #2. In his younger days, he always dedicated the song to Janis Joplin, making it clear that it was her he was singing about. This was rather bold, due to the songs highly sexual and erotic content. He later regreted ever having done this. * Rage Against the Reflection: Dress Rehearsal Rag * Sanity Slippage Song: Dress Rehearsal Rag again and Diamonds In The Mine. But several other songs from the album Songs Of Love And Hate could qualify. * Self-Deprecation: Cohen was well aware of his vocal limitations, and occasionally poked fun at them himself. Besides the above-mentioned snark about how "only in Canada" he could win a prize for Best Male Vocalist, he sang in "Tower of Song" that he was "born with the gift of a golden voice". * Soprano and Gravel: The majority of his songs are sung with a back-up chorus of female sopranos. * Vocal Evolution: He started out as a middling nasally tenor. His earlier records sound positively soprano when compared to his later ones; over forty years, his voice had dropped to a distinctive rumble, and it seemed to get deeper with every album. Dear Heather was positively subsonic. He stated that he has one more album left in him; presumably, only dogs will be able to hear it, and released You Want It Darker in (2016), just weeks before his death. Category:Musicians Category:Leonard Cohen Category:Music